Distinct activation patterns of the clavicular and sternal regions of the pectoralis major during the concentric bench press

Some strategies can be used to improve pectoralis major (PM) demand such as grip width, movement velocity, type of resistance and range of motion. Also, the normalized surface electromyography is commonly used to assess muscle activity during resistance training and allows the analyses of muscle activation across different portions of the exercise. The investigators aimed to compare sternal and clavicular PM's regions activity at the initial, middle, and final portions of the concentric phase during both flat and incline bench press. External and clavicular portions of PM EMG signals of thirteen males which performed 1 set of maximal repetitions of both flat and incline bench press at 60% of maximal load were analyzed. On flat bench press the final portion of concentric phase had lower muscular activation compared to middle (p < 0.001) and initial (p < 0.001) portions (clavicular) and to middle (p < 0.05) portion (sternal). For incline bench press the middle portion had a higher activity than initial (p < 0.001) and final (p < 0.05) portions at clavicular region while in sternal region final portion was lower than initial and middle (both p < 0.001) portions. The results suggest that reducing the range of motion by excluding the final portion of the concentric phase in the bench press may help maintain higher pectoralis major activation. It can be particularly advantageous in hypertrophy-oriented training, as it avoids the decrease in muscle activity during exercise.